Crab salad with caviar
Origin of the recipe
The recipe may have originated in the late Soviet or early Russian period, when crab sticks (introduced in the USSR in 1984) became an affordable substitute for expensive crab meat. Red caviar, despite its high price, remained a symbol of celebration—it was added "for a touch of glamour" to otherwise simple salads. Thus a compromise was born: a base of budget-friendly ingredients (rice, eggs, cucumbers) and a "royal" touch in the form of caviar. This is a typical example of Soviet culinary ingenuity—making a dish visually luxurious with a modest selection of ingredients.
What do you need for cooking?
Ingredients
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Crab sticks
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Fresh cucumbers
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Boiled rice
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Chinese cabbage
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Red caviar
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Boiled eggs
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Parsley
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Mayonnaise
Kitchen utensils
- Knife
- Board
- Spoon
- Salad bowl
- Culinary ring
Crab salad with red caviar is quick and easy to make if you pre-boil the rice and eggs. All you have to do is chop and mix the ingredients, and the crab salad with caviar is ready. For a delicious crab salad with caviar, follow this step-by-step recipe.
Step-by-step recipe
Step 1
Pre-boil the rice in a large amount of boiling salted water until done.
NOTE: For our crab salad recipe, it is important that the rice is fluffy.
Step 2
We clean the crab sticks from the factory film and cut them into small cubes.
NOTE: It is better to use crab sticks with a high surimi content.
Step 3
The cucumber must first be washed and dried, then cut into small cubes.
NOTE: There is no need to peel the cucumber skin for the crab salad unless it is tough, damaged, or bitter.
Step 4
Boil the eggs hard, cool, peel and cut into small cubes.
Step 5
Chinese cabbage should first be washed and chopped as finely as possible.
NOTE: For convenience, you can separate the cabbage into leaves. Add the leafy green part to the crab caviar salad and trim off the white, tougher part.
Step 6
Parsley should be washed, dried and finely chopped.
NOTE: The parsley you use to decorate the crab salad with caviar can be replaced with dill or other herbs to taste.
Step 7
In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the crab salad: cucumbers, eggs, Chinese cabbage, crab sticks, parsley and red caviar.
Step 8
Season the crab salad with caviar with mayonnaise and mix gently.
*NOTE: Stir the crab salad and caviar gently. Be careful not to crush the caviar while stirring.*
Step 9
Place a culinary ring on a plate and spoon the crab salad with caviar into it. Refrigerate the plate for one hour.
NOTE: If you don’t want to put the salad in a ring, you can simply serve it in a salad bowl.
Step 10
Before serving, remove the culinary ring, garnish the salad with fresh herbs, and add caviar.
Cooking tips
Add a pinch of black pepper to balance the delicateness of the salad ingredients.
Use only fluffy rice for the salad. Rice that is too sticky can ruin the salad's texture, turning it into a lump.
This interesting crab salad is perfect for special occasions, especially New Year's. Among other seafood salads, this caviar salad stands out thanks to its bright accents. Since this dish uses rice, eggs, and mayonnaise, it's very filling.
